Propellent powder



Patented July 28, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEoEGE c. HALE AND FREDRICH OLSEN, or Down, NEW JE'EsEY.

PROPELLENT POWDER.

No Drawing.

Application filed November 6, 1928. Serial No. 678.126.

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1883; 22' STAT. L. 625.)

To all whom i may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE C. HALE and FREDRICH OLSEN, citizens of the United States, and residents of Dover, in the county of Morris and State of New Jersey, have in- .ventcdan Improvement in Propellent Pow- (lers, of which the following is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of its oflicers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1883.

The subject of this invention is a propellent powder.

The primary object of our invention 1s the provision of a powder which is nonhygromixing these'substa-nces with a suitable deterrent material such as triphenylphosphate.

Powders containing pentaerythritetranitrate or nitroguanidine and a suitable deterrent will burn with a low flash, producing little smoke and inapprecia'ble residue and will give a uniform velocity.

A composition which has given successful results in practice is as follows:

Per cent. P. E. T. N 21 N itroguanidine 4L Triphenylphosphate 6v Ammonium perchlorate 32 While it has been found desirable to mix both P. E. T. N. and nitroguanidine with other suitable nonhygroscopic substances, either of these materials may be used alone or combined as a separate ingredient with scopic and which will possess the necessary ballistic qualities.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, our invention resides in the novel combination of ingredients and in the details of preparation hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention the proper nonhygroscopic materials. In the formula given above, the proportions of the ingredients used may be varied to suit varying conditions and for the triphenylphosphate any other suitable deterrent such as mononitronapthaline, dimethyldiphenylurea, dinitrotoluene, etc., may be substituted in the proper proportions, while instead of herein, disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Pentaerythritetranitrate and nitroguanidine have many properties which indicate their suitability for use as propellent powf ders. For example, both are stable com- 3 pounds, are nonhygroscopic, are easily ignited and burn quietly without leaving any appreciable residue. Heretofore, nitrocellulose has beenmost generally used as the chief constituent of propellent powders.

, 40 This material, however, ishygroscopic and powders in which it is used as an ingredient are subject to deterioration due to the effects of dampness and moisture. As it is desirable, therefore, in the development of ropellent powders to avoid the use of n1trocellulose because of its hygroscopicity, it is obviously desirable to use such compounds as pentaerythri-tetranitrate and nitroguanidine, either used alone or mixed with other suitable ingredients which are like pentaerythritetranitrate and nitroguanidine, nonhygroscopic.

, It has been found that successful propellent powders may be prepared froin pentaerythritetranitrate and nitroguanidine by ammonium perchlorate, any other suitable oxidizing agent may be employed.

A power made according to theformula given above or employing any other mixture of pentaerythritetranitrate and nitroguanidine or these substances alone with other suitable nonhygroscopic' materials may be prepared by any suitable method. The materials either dry or with any desirable moisture content will be mixed together and the mixture pressed into pellets or blocks to a have been prepared according to the manner described and with constituents such as re: cited and have been found to give even greater uniformity than is obtainable with the standard nitrocellulose powder.

While propellent such as forms the subject of our invention will preferably be prepared according to the method described, it IS by no means intended to limit the invention to a powder prepared according to this process alone inasmuch as the materials which we have found desirable to employ may be mixed according to any other suitable method.

We claim: 1. A ropellent powder containing pentaerythritetranitrate nitroguanidine, tri- 15 phenylphosphate an ammonlum perchlorate.

2. A propellent powder containing pentaerythritetranitrate, nitroguanidine, triphenylphosphate and an oxidizing agent.

3. A propellent powder containing pentaerythritetranitrate nitroguanidine, a deterrent and ammonium perchlorate.

4. A propellent powder containing pentaerythritetranitrate, nitroguanidine, a deterrent and an oxidizing agent.

5. A propellent powder containing pentaerythijitetranitrate, nitroguanidine and an oxidizing agent.

6. A propellent powder containing pentaerythritetranitrate, nitroguanidine and a deterrent material.

7. A propellent powder containing pentaerythritetranitrate, and nitroguanidine.

8. A propellent powder containmg nitroguanidine, triphenyl phosphate and ammonium perchlorate.

9. A propellent powder containing nitroguanidine, triphenyl phosphate and an oxidizing agent.

10. A propellent powder containing nitroguanidine, a deterrent, and an oxidizing agent.

11. A propellent powder containing nitroguanidine and ammonium perchlorate.

12. A'propellent powder containing nitroguanidine and triphenylphosphate.

18. A propellent powder containing pentaerythritetranitrate, triphenylphosphate and ammonium perchlorate.

14:. A propellent powder containing pentaerythritetranitrate, a deterrent and an oxidizing agent.

15. A propellent powder containing pentaerythritetranitrate, and ammonium perchlorate.

16. A propellent powder containing pentaerythritetranitrate, and triphenylphosphate.

GEORGE C. HALE. FREDRICH OLSEN. 

